AP PHOTOS: Curiosity rover’s first year on Mars

Like a tourist in a new land, the mobile science laboratory spent its first year sightseeing and exploring its surroundings. It zapped its laser at boulders, drilled into rocks, measured radiation and tracked the weather.

It achieved one of the mission’s main goals by finding evidence that Gale Crater once had an environment suitable to support simple life.

The six-wheel, nuclear-powered rover is now headed for a mountain _ a drive that will take many months.

Here’s a gallery of images from Curiosity’s landing and past year on Mars.